678
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
prohibits the government from excepting certain kinds of speech from regulation because it thinks the speech is especially valuable. See, e. g., id., at 231-232; Regan v. Time, Inc., 468 U. S. 641, 648-649 (1984); Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego, 453 U. S. 490, 514-515 (1981) (plurality opinion); Carey v. Brown, 447 U. S. 455, 466-468 (1980); Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U. S. 92, 96 (1972); Cox v. Louisiana, 379 U. S. 536, 581 (1965) (Black, J., concurring); see also R. A. V. v. St. Paul, 505 U. S. 377, 386 (1992) ("The government may not regulate [speech] based on hostility—or favoritism— towards the underlying message expressed").
This is why the Court is mistaken in concluding that the interest in diversity—in "access to a multiplicity" of "diverse and antagonistic sources," ante, at 663 (internal quotation marks omitted)—is content neutral. Indeed, the interest is not "related to the suppression of free expression," ante, at 662 (emphasis added and internal quotation marks omitted), but that is not enough for content neutrality. The interest in giving a tax break to religious, sports, or professional magazines, see Arkansas Writers' Project, supra, is not related to the suppression of speech; the interest in giving labor picketers an exemption from a general picketing ban, see Carey and Mosley, supra, is not related to the suppression of speech. But they are both related to the content of speech—to its communicative impact. The interest in ensuring access to a multiplicity of diverse and antagonistic sources of information, no matter how praiseworthy, is directly tied to the content of what the speakers will likely say.
B
The Court dismisses the findings quoted above by speculating that they do not reveal a preference for certain kinds of content; rather, the Court suggests, the findings show "nothing more than the recognition that the services provided by broadcast television have some intrinsic value and, thus, are worth preserving against the threats posed by
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